The Mosaic Company Reports Lower Potash Prices, Lower Sales for Q1

The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) reported Q1 earnings of $257 million, down from $295 million the year previous, on the back of lower potash sales volumes and lower prices.
As quoted in the press release:

Earnings per diluted share were $0.73 and included a positive impact of $0.59 from notable items, primarily related to currency and tax benefits. Mosaic’s net sales in the first quarter of 2016 were $1.7 billion, down from $2.1 billion last year, reflecting lower prices as well as lower potash sales volumes. Operating earnings during the quarter were $163 million, down from $319 million a year ago, as the lower net sales were partially mitigated by lower potash and phosphate production costs and benefits of continued expense management initiatives.

Mosaic CEO, Joc O’Rourke, said:

We are seeing the benefits of the actions we’ve taken to weather this down part of the cycle. While we expect profitability to improve in the second half of the year, we are making further adjustments to ensure Mosaic remains competitive in any environment.

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